WILL IT SNOW?: There’s rough weather ahead, but by December 25 high pressure will bring calmer conditions (Image: Getty)
Those dreaming of a white Christmas appear to be out of luck, as the Met Office has issued its festive seven-day forecast, saying, “you will be disappointed.” A period of unsettled, wet, and windy weather is predicted ahead of the day itself, which could bring disruption.
National Severe Weather Warnings for wind and rain have been issued for this weekend (December 21 to 22). A brief window of settled weather for many overnight Friday into Saturday will be quickly pushed aside, as an area of low pressure tracks to the north of the UK bringing wet and widely windy weather.
Deputy chief meteorologist Dan Harris said: “A deep area of low pressure is expected to pass to the north of Scotland on Saturday, heading towards southwest Norway. Yellow wind warnings are currently in place across northern and western parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, where there’s a small chance of gusts in excess of 80mph across parts of the Hebrides, Orkney, and parts of the north and west Scottish mainland coast.”
READ MORE
The Met Office explains that travellers may experience disruption to their plans: “Delays or cancellations to sea and air transport are possible given these winds, amongst other impacts. More generally, however, gusts of 60-75mph are likely and, when coinciding with daytime travel in the busier pre-Christmas period, may cause some travel disruption,” said Harris.
Rain will also move in on Saturday, with the highest accumulations in the northwest. This will be followed by frequent heavy showers, which will turn increasingly wintry on higher ground later. By Sunday morning, a covering of snow is possible for some hills and mountains as far south as the Peak District reports DevonLive.
Sunday brings a mix of sunny intervals, blustery showers, and perhaps longer spells of rain in the north. Showers will be frequent and heavy in northern and western areas, falling as a wintry mix of sleet and snow for some. Gales are expected in exposed parts of the north and west, with windchill making temperatures feel rather cool.
Another frontal system is likely to move through from the west on Monday, bringing further wind and outbreaks of rain throughout the day. The Met Office says we should start to see high pressure build in from Christmas Eve, bringing more settled weather for the festive period.
Harris said: “With Christmas still seven days away, we cannot yet be confident about the regional scale details. However, the broad trends in the forecast come with higher than usual confidence for this lead time.
“Current indications are that more settled conditions are likely to develop from Christmas Eve onwards, with the majority of the UK coming under the influence of high pressure. The exception, however, may be northwest Scotland, where there is a reasonable chance of further wind and rain.
“Christmas Day itself is likely to be settled, often cloudy, and dry with light winds for the majority. Once again, the far north may be windier, with a small chance of further rain across northwest Scotland.
Temperatures are expected to be widely mild, so if you are hoping for a blanket of snow across the country on Christmas Day, I’m sorry to say you will be disappointed. We’ll be giving more details as we get closer to the day, so do keep up-to-date with the latest Met Office forecast.”
READ NEXT
Related News :